Kouga Local Municipality (KLM) wishes to thank ALL resident and organization volunteers who have contributed much time and effort following the loss of containers from at least three vessels over the past six weeks due to adverse weather conditions. Beauty products and medication containers, medications, wooden products, furniture, foodstuffs, and tea have formed most of the content washing ashore.
Disaster Status
SAMSA announced that working in collaboration with relevant authorities and the owners of the affected vessels, a monitoring, recovery and clean-up plan had been rolled out across the affected areas. The status of this disaster is still live, and cleanup efforts continue.
In response to the disaster, Kouga coastline is being coordinated through the Sara Baartman District Municipality JOC. SAMSA has appointed two cleanup specialist companies, SpillTech and Xtreme Projects (KLM area) to lead the clean – up efforts.
KLM has been putting cleanup teams in the worst affected areas and a beach clean-up was arranged on 21 September 2024 and several debris were collected. As of 26 September 2024, Xtreme Projects has 25 fieldworkers doing cleanups in St Francis, Cape St Francis, Gamtoos and Jeffreys Bay areas. They will assess, on a weekly basis, whether to increase or reduce the size of the fieldwork team.
Bag disposal
Residents who are continuing to engage in voluntary cleanups are requested to please dispose of their bags by:
• Delivering them to the Fire Station in St Francis Bay or Jeffreys Bay OR
• Leaving them at the closest official car park, OR
• If they are too heavy to carry out of more remote areas, send a location pin to Extreme fieldwork team on 060 900 5920.
It’s important that the real cost of the cleanup is computed, which should include the accounting of the community effort that has been taking place.
To assist with this, all volunteers are requested to send a Whatsapp to the Xtreme reporting person on 079 104 8585 outlining:
• The number of bags collected
• Description of collection area
• Description of the contents.
The public is urged not to consume these items under any circumstances as they may pose serious health risks.
Members of the public can also report sightings to KLM Call centre or any slicks on the surface of the water should immediately be reported to the Xtreme fieldwork team on 060 900 5920.
KLM would like to thank you for your vigilance and help towards reducing the impact of this disaster on our coastal assets.
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